LOS ANGELES — Smokey Robinson recalls some of his favourite memories with Aretha Franklin at a taped tribute concert honouring The Queen of Soul.

Robinson says he looked at Franklin as his “little sister” whom he still misses at the “Aretha! A GRAMMY Celebration for The Queen of Soul” during a Jan. 13 taped tribute in Los Angeles. He took the stage along with Alicia Keys, Celine Dion and Patti LaBelle to help bring Franklin’s favourite songs back to life.

The tribute will air March 10 on CBS.

Franklin died at age 76 from pancreatic cancer at her home in Detroit last year.

Robinson says he remembered when he first met a 6-year-old Franklin at her family’s home in Detroit before she became a “game-changing sensation.”

Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press